Transgender beauty queen Jenna Talackova has a boyfriend, hopes to have children

NEAL HALL, VANCOUVER SUN04.09.2012

Transgender Miss Universe contestant Jenna Talackova appeared on The View on Monday, April 9, 2012 to talk about the controversy surrounding her being bounced from the beauty pageant, then readmitted.Screen
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Jenna Talackova, seen here in her Grade 8 Killarney secondary yearbook photo, went by the name Page Talacko at the time.Handout
/ Submitted

Jenna Talackova (R), a would be Miss Universe contestant, shows her Canadian passport, as a proof that she is a female, during a news conference with her attorney Gloria Allred on April 3, 2012 in Los Angeles, California, Talackova, 23, was disqualified as a finalist from the upcoming Miss Universe Canada last month because she was born male. The Miss Universe Organization reversed their decision April 2, 2012, allowing a transgender contestant to compete as long as they meet the legal Canadian gender recognition requirements and standards that are established by other competitions.Kevork Djansezian
/ Getty Images

Jenna Talackova, a would be Miss Universe contestant, attends a news conference with her attorney Gloria Allred on April 3, 2012 in Los Angeles, California, Talackova, 23, was disqualified as a finalist from the upcoming Miss Universe Canada last month because she was born male. The Miss Universe Organization reversed their decision April 2, 2012, allowing a transgender contestant to compete as long as they meet the legal Canadian gender recognition requirements and standards that are established by other competitions held internationally.Kevork Djansezian
/ Getty Images

Jenna Talackova, a would be Miss Universe contestant, attends a news conference with her attorney Gloria Allred on April 3, 2012 in Los Angeles, California, Talackova, 23, was disqualified as a finalist from the upcoming Miss Universe Canada last month because she was born male. The Miss Universe Organization reversed their decision April 2, 2012, allowing a transgender contestant to compete as long as they meet the legal Canadian gender recognition requirements and standards that are established by other competitions held internationally.Kevork Djansezian
/ Getty Images

Jenna Talackova, a would be Miss Universe contestant, attends a news conference with her attorney Gloria Allred on April 3, 2012 in Los Angeles, California, Talackova, 23, was disqualified as a finalist from the upcoming Miss Universe Canada last month because she was born male. The Miss Universe Organization reversed their decision April 2, 2012, allowing a transgender contestant to compete as long as they meet the legal Canadian gender recognition requirements and standards that are established by other competitions held internationally.Kevork Djansezian
/ Getty Images

Jenna Talackova, a would be Miss Universe contestant, attends a news conference with her attorney Gloria Allred on April 3, 2012 in Los Angeles, California, Talackova, 23, was disqualified as a finalist from the upcoming Miss Universe Canada last month because she was born male. The Miss Universe Organization reversed their decision April 2, 2012, allowing a transgender contestant to compete as long as they meet the legal Canadian gender recognition requirements and standards that are established by other competitions held internationally.Kevork Djansezian
/ Getty Images

Jenna Talackova, a would be Miss Universe contestant, attends a news conference with her attorney Gloria Allred on April 3, 2012 in Los Angeles, California, Talackova, 23, was disqualified as a finalist from the upcoming Miss Universe Canada last month because she was born male. The Miss Universe Organization reversed their decision April 2, 2012, allowing a transgender contestant to compete as long as they meet the legal Canadian gender recognition requirements and standards that are established by other competitions held internationally.Kevork Djansezian
/ Getty Images

Jenna Talackova, a would be Miss Universe contestant, attends a news conference with her attorney Gloria Allred on April 3, 2012 in Los Angeles, California, Talackova, 23, was disqualified as a finalist from the upcoming Miss Universe Canada last month because she was born male. The Miss Universe Organization reversed their decision April 2, 2012, allowing a transgender contestant to compete as long as they meet the legal Canadian gender recognition requirements and standards that are established by other competitions held internationally.Kevork Djansezian
/ Getty Images

Jenna Talackova, a would be Miss Universe contestant, attends a news conference with her attorney Gloria Allred on April 3, 2012 in Los Angeles, California, Talackova, 23, was disqualified as a finalist from the upcoming Miss Universe Canada last month because she was born male. The Miss Universe Organization reversed their decision April 2, 2012, allowing a transgender contestant to compete as long as they meet the legal Canadian gender recognition requirements and standards that are established by other competitions held internationally.Kevork Djansezian
/ Getty Images

Jenna Talackova, a would be Miss Universe contestant, attends a news conference with her attorney Gloria Allred on April 3, 2012 in Los Angeles, California, Talackova, 23, was disqualified as a finalist from the upcoming Miss Universe Canada last month because she was born male. The Miss Universe Organization reversed their decision April 2, 2012, allowing a transgender contestant to compete as long as they meet the legal Canadian gender recognition requirements and standards that are established by other competitions held internationally.Kevork Djansezian
/ Getty Images

Jenna Talackova, a would be Miss Universe contestant, attends a news conference with her attorney Gloria Allred on April 3, 2012 in Los Angeles, California, Talackova, 23, was disqualified as a finalist from the upcoming Miss Universe Canada last month because she was born male. The Miss Universe Organization reversed their decision April 2, 2012, allowing a transgender contestant to compete as long as they meet the legal Canadian gender recognition requirements and standards that are established by other competitions held internationally.Kevork Djansezian
/ Getty Images

Jenna Talackova, a would be Miss Universe contestant, attends a news conference with her attorney Gloria Allred on April 3, 2012 in Los Angeles, California, Talackova, 23, was disqualified as a finalist from the upcoming Miss Universe Canada last month because she was born male. The Miss Universe Organization reversed their decision April 2, 2012, allowing a transgender contestant to compete as long as they meet the legal Canadian gender recognition requirements and standards that are established by other competitions held internationally.Kevork Djansezian
/ Getty Images

Vancouver-based Miss Universe contestant Jenna Talackova said Monday that she has a boyfriend and wants to have two kids one day.

She told the TV program Good Morning America that she initially didn’t tell her boyfriend that she was born a boy and had a sex change operation.

“Of course I had to let him know,” Talackova said.

Once she told her boyfriend of two and a half years, he was very supportive and accepts her for who she is, she said.

Talackova, 23, who will compete for the Miss Universe Canada pageant title May 19 in Toronto, sparked international attention when she was disqualified last month because she was not “naturally born” female.

But U.S. businessman Donald Trump, who owns the Miss Universe pageant, backtracked and allowed Talackova to compete after high-profile U.S. lawyer Gloria Allred took on the case and alleged Trump was discriminating against the young woman, who had a sex-change operation at 19.

Her Canadian passport, driver’s licence and birth certificate all say she is female.

Talackova told Good Morning America that other contestants have been very supportive of her, sending text messages and emails, encouraging her to compete in the pageant.

Talackova attended Killarney secondary school in Vancouver, when she began dressing as a girl. She identified as being female from a young age and in high school changed her name from Walter to Page.

Within a couple of years, Talackova began hormone therapy and changed her name again to Jenna.

Talackova’s family live in east Vancouver but she also has family in the northern B.C. first nation community of Burns Lake, where her family comes from.

John Bertacco, her cousin and band councillor in the Lake Babine Nation in Burns Lake, earlier told The Vancouver Sun that the community was aware of what was going on in her life and has been supportive of her throughout her transition.

The Lake Babine Nation helped her pursue her Miss Universe dream by giving her $2,500 to help with the entry fee, as well as moral support, Bertacco said.

She also recalled excruciating post-surgery pain after her penis was cut off.

Walters asked if she can have normal sexual relations with a man.

“Yes, I can,” Talackova replied.

nhall@vancouversun.com

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Transgender beauty queen Jenna Talackova has a boyfriend, hopes to have children

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